Hytale briefly becomes Twitch's most-watched game on early access launch day

Hytale's early access launch briefly made it the most-watched game on Twitch with over 420,000 viewers, and the release follows the studio regaining the IP and preparing the game for public play.

Hytale launched into early access and drew a large live audience on Twitch, briefly becoming the platform's most-watched game. The surge drew attention because the project has a complicated recent history: it was announced in 2018, later acquired by Riot Games in 2020, reported as canceled by Riot this past year, and then the IP was regained by co-founder Simon Collins-Laflamme in November. The team released the game to early access and the launch day included both high viewer counts and immediate community activity. Key details: - At peak, Hytale drew over 420,000 viewers on Twitch, a figure first noted by PC Gamer. - Later in the day the viewing numbers dropped to about 260,000, while Hytale remained the most-watched video game and the third-most-watched Twitch category. - On the Twitch categories list it was reported as behind Just Chatting and the Kings League (football/soccer) category. - Hytale was first announced in 2018, acquired by Riot Games in 2020, and reported as canceled by Riot this past year before the IP was reacquired by co-founder Simon Collins-Laflamme in November. - Reports say the early access launch generated enough revenue to cover roughly two more years of development, and a modding scene was active on day one, including community projects running other software inside the game. - Collins-Laflamme publicly predicted one million players on day one; confirmation of total player numbers from Hypixel is pending. Summary: Hytale's early access launch generated notable live viewership and visible community activity, reflecting strong attention on streaming platforms. Confirmation of total player counts and how viewership evolves in the days after launch is undetermined at this time.